Mass. student charged for gun threat

NORTH ATTLEBORO, Mass. (WPRI) -- A North Attleboro High School student accused of threatening to "shoot up" the school will be spending Christmas in jail.

Patrick Skrabec, 17, faced a judge during his arraignment Monday morning in Attleboro District Court.

Police arrested the teen on Friday. They said he made comments in math class last Tuesday to "shoot up" the school.

"He's scared, he's a 17-year-old boy, this incident has been blown out of proportion to say the least," said his attorney, Maria Deaton.

Skrabec is now facing a felony charge of making a threat causing the disruption of school. Deaton believes he doesn't deserve to be in jail.

"I'm shocked that he's being held," she said. "I'm a little outraged by the incident because, from my understanding, the school has had a problem with kids making what they think is jokingly making threats, and he's been singled out for some reason."

The incident comes in the wake of the tragic school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in which 20 children were gunned down and a heightened sensitivity by communities to possible school threats.

A judge ordered Skrabec held without bail until a pending dangerousness hearing.